Yesterday (Monday) was only the second time I failed to secure an upgrade as a 1K, albeit I was on an S fare. Surprisingly, both failures have been on aircraft with plenty of FC seats, with upgrade request made at least 2 weeks prior. UA 915 was a 757, and UA 36 SFO-ORD 6 am Monday morning might have been a 777 when I was denied last year (currently 763). Yesterday I came close to getting the upgrade, #3 on the waitlist vs. around #15 for SFO-ORD.

So for UA 915 in particular, departing IAD at 4:35p, I'm curious who the first class travelers were. Were they heavily: 1) full fare; 2) YUP or QUP; 3) international C/F connections, either paid, upgrade, or award; 4) UGS clearing at 120 hours, or.........? Anyone want to hazard a guess? Also, I figure a W fare wouldn't necessarily have made a difference in the ranking.

BTW, do Y government fares qualify for YUP?